Busted! Don’t Believe These Fitness Myths
In our attempts to lose weight, get that much dreamed about summer body, or just maintain a level of fitness, we are likely to find tips and tricks in advice from friends and family or from the internet. Unfortunately, many of these tips and fundamentally inaccurate, which result in the spread of myths and misconceptions.
To put an end to some of these falsehoods, the team at EMF Fitness has put together a list of three of the most widely believed myths about fitness and explained why falling prey to these myths could do your fitness and weight-loss journey more harm, than good.
Myth 1: Lifting weights makes you bulky.
If only I had a dollar for every time some well-meaning person said, “I just don’t want to get too bulky” in regards to weight training, I’d be quite rich. While I understand where they are coming from and their concern, the reality is it’s just not that easy to get “bulky.” If it were, every gym person you saw at the gym would be walking around with 20” arms.
The truth of the matter is weight training is a great way to build muscle and get some real shape to your body, but adding muscle takes a lot of work, and it sure doesn’t come on quickly.
If anything, fat is what makes you look bulky, as lifting weights will just give you a lean, defined looking physique when combined with a quality diet.
So don’t over-concern yourself with getting too bulky from weights and instead watch out for the bulk that comes from a bad diet!
Myth 2: Cardio is the best way to lose fat.
While exercise does burn calories and burning more calories than you consume will result in a drop in body fat, cardio isn’t the only answer. Cardio is a phenomenal way to take care of your cardio-respiratory health (heart, lungs, etc.,) and doing cardio does indeed burn calories, which will aid in fat loss as I said above, but the amount burned in one cardio session is anything but impressive.
During a decent workout of around forty-five mins, we might burn between 500 to 600 calories, which sounds great until you realize that hardly buys you one medium serving of your favorite French fries. The answer to fat loss for most people comes to controlling what they eat (sorry, boring, I know), but it’s really hard to outwork a bad diet, even with your magical cardio.
A diet that is well balanced with whole food sources and adequately portioned will deliver far better fat loss results than any form of cardio will. That said, exercise for the other benefits such as lean muscle building or retention, strength, bone density, heart health, etc. The calories burned during a workout will assist in your fat loss goals as long as the primary focus of a proper diet is kept in check!
Myth 3: Carbs make you fat.
Who wants to live in a world without carbs?! Seriously? I know I don’t. This myth has been around for a long time, and it just won’t go away. Right now, carbs are the enemy in fitness. For a while, it was fat, and more recently, protein is getting a bad rep. The problem is not the carbs; the problem is the lack of activity and eating too much, as it has always been. No one single macronutrient (carbs, fat, protein) is the reason for fat gain. The reason is too many calories consumed and not burned.
Where some people might run into problems with carbs is that because it’s such a delicious source of energy, we tend to over-eat it. Most people won’t have a hard time eating too much rice, pasta, chips, etc. Very seldom do we sit down and finish off a whole 16oz steak while watching TV. (That’s my kind of Friday night!)
As with most things, the key is balance and being self-aware. Eat a diet balanced in whole foods, eat your veggies, get some protein in there, healthy fats? Yes please, and a serving of carbs per meal.
If you find some foods trigger an emotional response and cause you to over-eat, then maybe watch out for those foods, but just don’t go out blaming the carbs!
If you want to fulfill your fitness goals and steer clear of the many myths and mistakes that could come in your way, reach out to EMF Fitness. As a leading Calgary Fitness Centre, we are dedicated to helping you become the best version of you. More than just a gym, we are here to teach and inspire others to live a healthy, active lifestyle through purposeful movement, proper nutrition for your goals, and having fun.
With the onset of COVID-19 and the prevailing conditions, we have also transitioned most of our business online so we can continue to serve you best in achieving and maintaining your health and fitness goals by offering online coaching. Please click here to learn more about our online coaching program.
For a complete list of our services, please click here. If you have any questions about EMF Fitness, we’d love to hear from you, please contact us here.